The final of League of Legends’ Mid Season Invitational saw Counter Logic Gaming represent North America (a milestone in Riot tournament progession for the region) against South Korea’s SK Telecom T1. But would LoL wunderkind Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok get to complete his trophy collection with an MSI win or would CLG be able to best the SKT squad and take home the prize for the NA LCS? I’ll save the spoilers for after the jump in case you’re waiting on the rebroadcast!

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The second day of MSI 2016 semifinals at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center had North America’s Counter Logic Gaming taking on the LMS’s Flash Wolves. Each side had surpassed general expectations in the tournament but a peek at their group stage match history gave CLG the edge, both in overall performance but also because the pair’s earlier face-offs had both ended in CLG victories. Would a North American side finally have what it took to reach the finals of a major Riot League event or was SKT going to go up against the aggression of Taiwan’s Flash Wolves?

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ESL have announced the formation of the World Esports Association (WESA), an organisation which aims to “oversee standardized tournament regulations, player representation as well as revenue sharing for teams.” If you’re aware of the mishmash of acronyms that forms the world of esports tournaments, this might not seem of much interest, but WESA is different in that it’s not a new league but a regulatory body hoping to work with all the existing players, teams and leagues.

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The first set of League of Legends MSI 2016 semi-finals are done and dusted. I’ll wait until after the jump to talk winners and losers in case you’re skim reading the site and don’t want to know how SK Telecom T! vs Royal Never Give Up played out!

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The first set of semifinals for MSI 2016 kicks off tomorrow at Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre with China’s hot prospect Royal Never Give Up taking on the reigning world champions of SK Telecom T1. I’ll be here in China as the tournament heads into its final stretch, spectating games, attending Q&As, interviewing people, wondering whether stealing my fellow passenger’s white chocolate chip cookie on the flight over was really a crime because it was over international waters and he was asleep… But before that starts let’s have a quick look at how the tournament is shaping up so far.

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Heading into the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), most fans of the European League of Legends’ [official site] scene were pleased to see G2 eSports representing their region. The team had stormed the EU LCS in their rookie split, with a combination of individual skill and teamwork. They also had a cocksure aura around them – they weren’t just winning they were winning with a swagger. No surprise then that there was a sense of excitement about what this squad of newcomers could do on a bigger stage.

Faced with veteran opponents, would their upstart nature cause big upsets? Even if they didn’t there was little concern that they would put the European region to shame with their performance. After ten games, two wins and some crushing defeats though, ‘shame’ is very much on the agenda as fans, professional players and the community quickly turned on the G2 organisation.

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Part of my morning has been spent reading through the big League of Legends’ [official site] esports rulings which will affect North American teams Renegades, Team Impulse and TDK as well as slapping bans one permanent on various people involved with said teams. In case you were curious, the other part of the morning was spent wondering whether to try my hand at making these Jabba The Hutt marshmallows.

Okay SO.

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Gather ye round for the tale of Taliyah The Stoneweaver. Well. A bit of the tale of Taliyah The Stoneweaver because it was pretty long but with more of a focus on investigating what her abilities will be when she joins the cast of League of Legends [official site].

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We’re almost in May and that can only mean one thing (apart from, apparently, snow in the UK); it’s time for League of Legends’ [official site] Mid-Season Invitational tournament!

What’s a Mid-Season Invitational and why should I care?

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With the Mid-Season Invitational around the corner for League of Legends, plans are already well underway at Riot Games for the Summer season. As we’ve discussed before, Riot are not the kind of studio to sit on their haunches and major changes are coming to the game in the form of the Mage Update. You can find the full details of the patch here, but here s what you need to know:

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